Bar stock storage dispensing and feeding apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for storing dispensing and feeding bars of stock to a material processing device includes a rotatable magazine to and from which bars of stock are transferred laterally and a bar support rack which receives the bars one at a time from the magazine, and transfers them axially into or out of a device such as a lathe for machining. Means are provided for the bidirectional transfer of bars of stock between the magazine and the support rack so that an unused portion of a bar of stock may be removed from the lathe and transferred back into the magazine for storage or disposal. A bar of stock is moved axially along the bar support rack by a pair of skewed concave rollers so that a bar is simultaneously moved axially and rotated about its axis to thus aid in inserting the bar into the lathe spindle collet.

1451 Sept. 11,1973

[ BAR STOCK STORAGE DISPENSING AND FEEDING APPARATUS AND METHOD [75]Inventors: Charles E. Gable; Marcus A. Gotsch, both of Fort Wayne, 1nd.

[73] Assignee: General Electric Company, Fort Wayne, Ind.

[22] Filed: Sept. 13, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 179,786

3,563,416 2/1971 Dobrink 198/211 Primary Examiner-Gerald M. ForlenzaAssistant ExaminerFrank E. Werner Attorney-John M. Stoudt et al.

57 I ABSTRACT V Method and apparatus for storing dispensing and feedingbars of stock to a material processing device includes a rotatablemagazine to and from which bars of stock are transferred laterally and abar support rack which receives the bars one at a time from themagazine, and transfers them axially into or out of a device such as alathe for machining. Means are provided for the bidirectional transferof bars of stock between the magazine and the support rack so that anunused portion of a bar of stock may be removed from thelathe andtransferred back into the magazine for storage or disposal. A bar ofstock is moved axially along thebar support rack by a pair of skewedconca've rollers so that a bar is simultaneously moved axially androtated about its axis to thus aid in inserting the bar into the lathespindle collet.

16 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures Patented Sept. 11, 1973 3,757,927

Patent ed Sept. 11, 1973 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. CHARLES E: GABLE,

MAECU$ A.GOTSCH,

. BY ATTORNEY.

. Patented Sept. 11, 1973 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG.7

ATTORNEY.

BAR STOCK STORAGE DISPENSING AND FEEDING APPARATUS AND METHOD BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to methods and apparatusfor handling raw material relative to a machine for processing that rawmaterial, and especially to methods and apparatus for transferringmaterials in the form of bars of stock to and from a machine forprocessing a bar of stock by revolving the bar about its axis relativeto a cutting tool. The present invention is particularly suitable forutilization in conjunction with a machine such as a lathe.

One procedure used heretofore for supplying raw materials to a latheincludes a manual operation of inserting a bar into a spindle collet andtightening the collet. Automated bar feeding devices for automaticlathes have also been proposed and one type of such device includes acylinder containing several pieces of bar stock in several holes in thecylinder running its length approximately parallel to and off set fromthe cylinder axis. A push rod is provided for each of these holes toforce the bar stock out of the selected hole at the appropriate time.

The above mentioned axially arranged cylinder suffers from a number ofsubstantial drawbacks and among other things, it is not convenient toselect a specific bar of stock, perform some machine operations on itand subsequently return that bar or the remaining portion of it to thecylinder for storage until it is again needed. It is also inconvenientto.load such cylinders since the raw material or bar stock must beinserted along the axis of the cylinder and if the stock is of anysubstantial length, the process is cumbersome and requires an inordinantamount of clearance around the machine. It is also difficult withautomatic feed devices of this category to intermix different types ofbar stock and select the appropriate type for machining at theappropriate time.

Some other types of automatic feed systems supply bar stock to aposition immediately adjacent a machine (e.g., a lathe) and make use ofa lateral transfer arrangement as opposed to an axial transfer. Thesearrangements do not overcome all of the above identified problems andparticularly with respect to convenience of loading and retrievingdifferent types of bar stock.

It will thus be understood that it would be very desirable to providestructural arrangements and methods that could be readily utilized forfeeding a length of various types of materials to a machine, use part ofthe length of material in the fabrication of one or more machined orotherwise treated parts therefrom, and then retrieve and store thebalance of the length of material. This type of arrangement and/ormethod would be of particular value in the manufacture of dynamoelectricmachine shafts wherein only one or a few parts such as shafts are madefrom a length of bar stock on a small order basis. Typically, only threeto five '12 inch shafts may be made at one time, whereas a typical barstock length would be on the order of 20 feet long. Thus, the ease ofretrieval and storage of unused material of a given type of bar stockuntil further need therefor can in fact be very important in practice.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to providemethods and apparatus that facilitate initial storage, utilization,retrieval, and subsequent storage of bar stock material.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a bar stockstorage dispensing and feeding system which allows for the quick andeasy selection of any one of a number of different kinds of barmaterial.

It is a further object of the present invention to quickly transfer apartially used bar of stock of a first type to a bar stock storagemagazine and transfer a second type of bar stock away from the bar stockstorage magazine.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a barsupport rack which axially inserts or removes a bar of stock from amachine collet while simultaneously imparting a rotary motion to thatbar to aid the insertion process.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide methods andarrangements that fulfill one or more of the foregoing objects andwhereby support and confinement is provided for that portion of a lengthof bar stock remote from a machine collet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In carrying out the objects of the invention inone form, we provide a bar stock storage dispensing and feeding systemcomprising a rotatable magazine of a plurality of slotted spaced discssupported on and rotatable about a common axis, a loading platformparallel to and adjacent the magazine, an unloading platform or troughparallel to and adjacent the magazine on the side opposite from theloading platform, and a bar support rack also adjacent the magazine onthe same side asthe trough and axially aligned with the axis ofrevolution of a lathe or other auxiliary machine. Selectively actuablemeans are also provided for moving a bar in the trough toward either thebar support rack or the magazine, thus providing for bidirectionaltransfer of bars between the bar support rack and the magazine. The barsupport rack is provided with an axial drive arrangement comprising apair of skewed concave rollers which selectively grip bars of stock toboth rotate and axially move individual bars for insertion into andremoval from the auxiliary machine. Rotation of the stock aids the axialinsertion process and facilitates the insertion of bars of stock thatare slightly damaged on the leading end whereas simple non-rotativeaxial movement of the bar stock might result in the bar of stock hangingup on the lathe collet or other close fitting receiver of an auxiliarymachine. The bar support rack is also provided with means in the form ofrollers for, during machining, limiting whip of unconfined portion ofthe bar of stock. Without these retainingrollers, long pieces of barstock may cause substantial damage to persons and equipment. This damagecould occur when a slight off center situation occurs during revolutionof the bar of stock. Of course, any off center condition producesadditional forces which tend to cause additional off centering and thiscumulative process may result in a wildly swinging or whipping free endof the bar stock material.

The subject matter which we regard as our invention is set forth in theappended claims. The invention itself, however, together with furtherobjects and advantages thereof may be'better understood by referring tothe following more detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view ofapparatus embodying the present invention in one form;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a portion of one of the discs and the loadingplatformof the FIG. 1 apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view partially in cross section illustrating therelationship of clamps or radial keepers on adjacent ones of the discsshown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view illustrating the elements of thepresent invention which impart lateral motion to a bar of stock;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the portion of the invention illustrated in FIG.5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the axial transfer means; and

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of the axial transfer means illustratedin FIG.'7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference first to theperspective view of FIG. 1, the present invention may be used toparticular advantage in conjunction with any suitable machine forprocessing stock material. However, for purposes of discussion, in thefollowing detailed description, the illustrated machine 11 will bereferred to as a lathe, although, it should be understood that thisreference is for the purpose of simplifying the description only. Thelathe 11 will have a machining axis about which its spindle colletrotates and on which may be located a second collet, dead center, orother tail stock like structure for supporting the otherwise free end ofthe work piece. The machine as thus far described would of course haveto be hand loaded by merely inserting a bar of stock into the spindlecollet. In place of such a hand loading operation, the present inventionprovides a bar support rack comprising pairs of rollers 13 on which thebar of stock may rest. A third roller 15 is associated with each pair ofrollers to insure that a bar of stock 17 as shown in FIG. 5 is held inalignment with the machine axis. This third or retaining roller 15 isselectively movable so that the bar of stock 17 may be laterally removedfrom the bar support rack as desired. An axial transfer means 19 isprovided for moving the bar 17 toward and away from the machine 11 forinsertion and removal respectively.

Storage means are also provided in the form of a magazine which isrotatable about the axis 21 by revolving the hand crank 23. Thisrotatable magazine comprises a plurality of plates or discs withretaining means (e .g., slots) or other members 25, 27, 29 and 31 whichare supported on and rotatable about the common axis 21. Correspondingslots in each discs are aligned and adapted to store a plurality of barsof stock 33, 35, and 37. A loading platform 47 is adapted to support abar of stock in a position removed from but substantially parallel tothe axis 21. To load a bar of stock into the magazine, it is simplynecessary to place the bar on the loading platform such as at 45 of FIG.2 and then roll it toward one of the slots as at 43. If the clamp orradial keeper to be discussed subsequently is in the proper position,this bar may then simply be rolled into the slots to the positionillustrated as 41. Once a bar is in the appropriate slots, movement ofthe crank handle 23 will result in that bar being revolved about thefixed axis 21.

The magazine may merely be supported in bearings at the extreme ends ofits axis 21 or additional support may be provided by the rollers 49.These rollers as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 are mounted on a plate,the exposed top edge of which constitutes the aforementioned loadingplatform 47. It should be clear from a consideration of FIGS. 1 and 4that this plate which supports the rollers 49 will prevent the bar stockfrom falling downwardly out of the slots in the discs if it wereextended sufficiently far around the lower portion of the disc. However,it is preferred that a series of clamps or radial keepers 51 be providedto prevent the inadvertent removal of a bar from a slot. As illustrated,there is one keeper 51 for each slot in each disc and each of thekeepers associated with a given aligned set of slots in the severaldiscs is attached to a common actuating rod such as 53 of FIGS. 1, 3 and4. Also attached to this common actuating rod 53 is an actuating lever55 which an operator can grasp and actuate and thus move all of thekeepers associated with a given bar of stock in the magazine. A springloaded pin 57 is provided to insure that the keeper 51 stays in itsclosed position until actuated by the operator. Thus, the operator mustpull the pin 57 in the direction of the arrow A shown in FIG. 4 prior topulling the lever 55 to release a bar of stock.

It should be clear from FIGS. 1 and 3 that several different types ofbar stock such as for example, bars of harder and softer steels, or barsof different materials, may be easily segregated in the magazine bymerely loading them into different aligned slots. Once the magazine isloaded (it can, of course, be loaded during lathe operation) the desiredset of slots is aligned with a trough having a lip 59 shown in FIG. 5.The proper alignment is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 5 and is achieved byrotating the crank 23 to the desired location. This desired location maybe defined by a detenting system associated with the magazine or themagazine may be merely visually aligned. Considering FIG. 3, once themagazine is properly aligned the spring loaded plunger 57 is pulled andthe lever arm 55 moved so as to raise the keeper 51 and allow a singlebar of stock to roll into the trough. The lever and the severalassociated keepers 51 are then returned to their normal bar retainingposition and the spring loaded plunger 57 released so as to lock thekeepers in place. The thus deposited bar of stock is illustrated as 61in FIGS. 3 and 5. One of the buttons on the control panel 63 is nowdepressed to actuate an air cylinder 65 of FIG. 5 which raises both theretaining roller 15 and the lateral transfer means 67 which in turnraises the bar of stock from its position 61 to a position such as 69.Due to the fact that the lateral transfer means has its upper surfacesloped somewhat, as the air cylinder actuates the bar of stock will movenot only up but toward the left and eventually will reach a positionwhere it will roll over the lip 59 and into the bar support rackassuming the position illustrated as 17 in FIG. 5. The air cylinder 65may be manually deactivated or the deactivation may occur automaticallywhereupon the lateral transfer means will descend as will the retainingroller 15 andthe bar of stock l7will be in position to be transferredaxially into the lathe 11. The axial transfer means 19 of FIG. 1 isillustrated in detail in FIGS. 7 and 8.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the axial transfer means is energized by anair driven motor or other energy source 71 which of course may becontrolled from the control panel 63. The energy source 71 selectivelydrives one of the two rollers 73 and 75. These two rollers 73 and 75.arerotatable about their respective axes and have concave lateral surfaceswhich selectively contact the bar 17. The roller axes are relativelyskewed and each roller axis is skewed relative to the axis of the bar17. When the air driven motor 71 is energized and the concave lateralsurfaces of the two rollers are contacting the bar 17, rotation andaxial motion is imparted to the bar so as to revolve the bar about itsown axis while simultaneously moving the bar axially along that axis andinto the lathe 11. Reversing the direction of drive of the motor 71 ofcourse imparts an oppositely directed motion to the bar 17 to remove itfrom the lathe 11.

It is desirable that during lathe operation, the rollers 73 and 75 beretracted so as to not contact the bar 17 to either impede its rotationor wear the rollers. This is accomplished by another air cylinder 77 ofFIG. 8 which of course could be automatically actuated or actuated bythe appropriate control on the control panel 63. Actuation of the aircylinder 77 allows the lower roller 75 to drop away from the bar ofstock '17 and raises the upper roller 73. A bar of stock is now in thelathe and one or more parts may be machined from this bar of stock'inaccordance with well known principles.

Assume now. that all of the parts desired to be cut or machined from thebar of stock presently in the lathe have been cut and that the latheoperator requires a new bar of stock from storage of, for example, adifferent material. In this case, the air cylinder 77 is actuated tocause the roller 73 tom voe downwardly until it contacts the bar 17.Further actuation of the air cylinder 77 raises the lower roller 75 intocontact with the bar 17. Air driven motor 71 is now actuated in theappropriate direction to withdraw the bar 17 from the lathe. After thebar has withdrawn from the lathe to a preferred location along the barsupport rack, the air driven motor 71 of course is shut off and aircylinder 77 is actuated in its reverse direction allowing the lowerroller 75 to drop until a stop is reached at which time the upper roller73 is lifted slightly so as to again completely clear the rollers 73 and75 from contact with the bar 17. Air cylinder 65 is next actuated tolift the retaining roller and the lateral transfer means 67. Theoperator now depresses the lever 77 of FIGS. 1 and 3 to thus rotate therod 79 which in turn causes the several lateral arms 81 to move the barof stock up over the lip 59 and back into the trough, the bar of stocknow being in the position illustrated as 69 in FIG. 5. Air cylinder 65may .now be actuated to lower the retaining roller 15 and the lateraltransfer means 67 so that the bar of stock returns to thepositionillustrated as 61 in FIG. 5. The operator next pulls pin 57 outwardlyand opens the keeper 5] of the slot into which he wishes to load the barof stock and when that keeper is opened, depresses the foot pedal 83which actuates one or more lateral return members 85 to force the bar ofstock .back into the appropriate slot in the magazine. The

lever 55 is again moved to close the keeper and thus complete thetransfer of a bar of stock from the lathe to the storage magazine. Theoperator may now select a bar of stock of a different type, i.e., adifferent material or differently sized material by rotating themagazine to a new position and changing the bed height when necessary.

In light of the foregoing detailed disclosure, numerous modificationswill readily suggest themselves to one of ordinary skill in the art andaccordingly, the scope of the present invention is to be measured onlyby that of the appended claims.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. In combination with a device having a predetermined axis and forprocessing a bar of stock, a bar stock storage dispensing and feedingsystem comprising:

a rotatable magazine comprising a plurality of spaced members supportedon and rotatable about a common axis, said magazine including alignedstock retaining means adapted to store a plurality of bars of stock;

a bar support structure adjacent said magazine and axially aligned withthe predetermined axis for receiving a bar of stock from said magazine;

axial drive means for moving a bar of stock along said bar supportstructure to selectively insert and remove the bar from the device; saidaxial drive means including first and second rollers having first andsecond roller axes respectively, each said roller having a concavelateral surface which selectively contacts a bar in said bar supportstructure, said roller axes being relatively skewed and each roller axisbeing skewed relative to the axis of revolution of said device; meansforselectively driving at least one of said rollers to revolve about itsaxis and thereby impart both axial and rotational motion to said bar;and means for selectively transferring a bar of stock between themagazine and bar support structure; and means for selectively movingsaid roller axes away and toward the predetermined axis to therebyselectively disengage and engage said axial drive means.

2. In combination with a device having a predetermined axis and forprocessinga bar of stock, a bar stock storage dispensing and feedingsystem comprising:

a rotatable megazine comprising a plurality of spaced members supportedon and rotatable about a common axis, said magazine including alignedstock retaining means adapted to store a plurality of bars of stock;

a bar support structure adjacent said magazine and axially aligned withthe predetermined axis for receiving a bar of stock from said magazine;

axial drive means for moving a bar of stock along said bar supportstructure to selectively insert and remove the bar from the device;

means for selectively transferring a bar of stock between the magazineand bar support structure; and

a trough intermediate said bar support structure and said magazinewhereby bidirectional transfer of a bar of stock between said magazineand said bar support structure may be effected.

3. The structure of claim 2 further comprising a loading platformadapted to support a bar of stock in a position removed from butsubstantially parallel to the predetermined axis, said loading platformbeing positioned relatively to said rotatable magazine so that the barof stock may be moved laterally into the stock retaining means.

4. The structure of claim 3 further comprising restricting meansassociated with at least one of said spaced members and selectivelymovable between a first position for preventing the inadvertent removalof a bar from the retaining means and a second position for allowing abar of stock to be inserted in said magazine from said loading platform.

5. The structure of claim 4 wherein both removal from and insertion intothe rotatable magazine are possible when said restricting means is insaid second position.

6. The structure of claim 2 wherein said bar support structure comprisesa plurality of pairs of rollers adapted to support said bar for rotationrelative to the device and at least one retaining roller, said retainingroller movable between a first position wherein said bar supportstructure may receive a bar of stock and a sec-,

ond position for retaining a bar of stock on said bar support structure.

7. A bar stock storage, dispensing, and feeding system comprising:

a rotatable magazine'comprising a plurality of slotted spaced memberssupported on and rotatable about a common axis; 7

said members each having a plurality of angularly spaced apart slotswith each of the slots opening at an outer peripheral region of themember in which the slot is formed;

said members being disposed in alignment with one another at spacedapart locations along the common axis;

a loading platform adapted to support a bar of stock in a positionremoved from but substantially parallel to the common axis, said loadingplatform being positioned relative to said rotatable magazine so thatthe bar of stock may be moved into the aligned slots of at least twoadjacent ones of said spaced members; I

keeper means mounted on at least one of said members for closing slotopenings adjacent said outer peripheral region and preventing theinadvertent removal of a bar from a slot; and

means for engaging a bar adjacent to said magazine and transferring thatbar to a bar support rack.

8. The structure of claim 7 wherein said means for engaging andtransferring comprises:

means for moving a bar laterally away from said rotatable magazine; saidstructure further comprising means for moving a bar axially along thebar support rack in a direction parallel to said common axis toward thematerial processing device along a fixed axis of movement.

9. The structure of claim 8 wherein moving a bar axially comprises:

first and second rollers having first and second roller axesrespectively, each said roller having a concave lateral surface forcontacting said bar, said roller axes being relatively skewed and eachroller axis being skewed relative to the fixed axis of movement; and

means for selectively driving one of said rollers to revolve about itsaxis and thereby impart both axial and rotational motion to said bar.

10. The structure of claim 9 further comprising means for selectivelymoving the roller axes away from the fixed axis of movement and towardthe fixed axis of movement to thereby selectively engage said axialmoving means.

11. The structure of claim 8 wherein said structure includes:

a trough into which a bar may roll from said magazine; and

said means for engaging and transferring is effective to move a bar fromsaid trough into a position for axial movement toward the materialprocessing device.

12. The structure of claim 11 wherein said means for engaging andtransferring comprises a plurality of latQ eral transfer devices lyingalong the bottom of said trough and movable upwardly to raise said barand allow it to roll out of said trough and into said axial movementposition.

13. The structure of claim 12 further comprising:

lateral reject means actuable to move a bar from said axial movementposition back into said trough; lateral return means for moving a barfrom said trough into said magazine; and

retaining means for movably securing a bar in said axial motionposition.

14. The structure of claim 13 wherein said retaining means isselectively movable between a bar retaining position and a positionallowing the effective actuation of said lateral reject means. I

15. The structure of claim 14 wherein said retaining means ismechanically linked to and actuable with said lateral discharge means.

16. The structure of claim 11 further comprising lateral reject meansactuable to move a bar from said axial movement position back into saidtrough; and

lateral return means for moving a bar from said trough into saidmagazine.

s s a:

said means for

1. In combination with a device having a predetermined axis and for processing a bar of stock, a bar stock storage dispensing and feeding system comprising: a rotatable magazine comprising a plurality of spaced members supported on and rotatable about a common axis, said magazine including aligned stock retaining means adapted to store a plurality of bars of stock; a bar support structure adjacent said magazine and axially aligned with the predetermined axis for receiving a bar of stock from said magazine; axial drive means for moving a bar of stock along said bar support structure to selectively insert and remove the bar from the device; said axial drive means including first and second rollers having first and second roller axes respectively, each said roller having a concave lateral surface which selectively contacts a bar in said bar support structure, said roller axes beiNg relatively skewed and each roller axis being skewed relative to the axis of revolution of said device; means for selectively driving at least one of said rollers to revolve about its axis and thereby impart both axial and rotational motion to said bar; and means for selectively transferring a bar of stock between the magazine and bar support structure; and means for selectively moving said roller axes away and toward the predetermined axis to thereby selectively disengage and engage said axial drive means.
 2. In combination with a device having a predetermined axis and for processing a bar of stock, a bar stock storage dispensing and feeding system comprising: a rotatable megazine comprising a plurality of spaced members supported on and rotatable about a common axis, said magazine including aligned stock retaining means adapted to store a plurality of bars of stock; a bar support structure adjacent said magazine and axially aligned with the predetermined axis for receiving a bar of stock from said magazine; axial drive means for moving a bar of stock along said bar support structure to selectively insert and remove the bar from the device; means for selectively transferring a bar of stock between the magazine and bar support structure; and a trough intermediate said bar support structure and said magazine whereby bidirectional transfer of a bar of stock between said magazine and said bar support structure may be effected.
 3. The structure of claim 2 further comprising a loading platform adapted to support a bar of stock in a position removed from but substantially parallel to the predetermined axis, said loading platform being positioned relatively to said rotatable magazine so that the bar of stock may be moved laterally into the stock retaining means.
 4. The structure of claim 3 further comprising restricting means associated with at least one of said spaced members and selectively movable between a first position for preventing the inadvertent removal of a bar from the retaining means and a second position for allowing a bar of stock to be inserted in said magazine from said loading platform.
 5. The structure of claim 4 wherein both removal from and insertion into the rotatable magazine are possible when said restricting means is in said second position.
 6. The structure of claim 2 wherein said bar support structure comprises a plurality of pairs of rollers adapted to support said bar for rotation relative to the device and at least one retaining roller, said retaining roller movable between a first position wherein said bar support structure may receive a bar of stock and a second position for retaining a bar of stock on said bar support structure.
 7. A bar stock storage, dispensing, and feeding system comprising: a rotatable magazine comprising a plurality of slotted spaced members supported on and rotatable about a common axis; said members each having a plurality of angularly spaced apart slots with each of the slots opening at an outer peripheral region of the member in which the slot is formed; said members being disposed in alignment with one another at spaced apart locations along the common axis; a loading platform adapted to support a bar of stock in a position removed from but substantially parallel to the common axis, said loading platform being positioned relative to said rotatable magazine so that the bar of stock may be moved into the aligned slots of at least two adjacent ones of said spaced members; keeper means mounted on at least one of said members for closing slot openings adjacent said outer peripheral region and preventing the inadvertent removal of a bar from a slot; and means for engaging a bar adjacent to said magazine and transferring that bar to a bar support rack.
 8. The structure of claim 7 wherein said means for engaging and transferring comprises: means for moving a bar laterally away from said rotatable magazine; said structure further comprising means For moving a bar axially along the bar support rack in a direction parallel to said common axis toward the material processing device along a fixed axis of movement.
 9. The structure of claim 8 wherein said means for moving a bar axially comprises: first and second rollers having first and second roller axes respectively, each said roller having a concave lateral surface for contacting said bar, said roller axes being relatively skewed and each roller axis being skewed relative to the fixed axis of movement; and means for selectively driving one of said rollers to revolve about its axis and thereby impart both axial and rotational motion to said bar.
 10. The structure of claim 9 further comprising means for selectively moving the roller axes away from the fixed axis of movement and toward the fixed axis of movement to thereby selectively engage said axial moving means.
 11. The structure of claim 8 wherein said structure includes: a trough into which a bar may roll from said magazine; and said means for engaging and transferring is effective to move a bar from said trough into a position for axial movement toward the material processing device.
 12. The structure of claim 11 wherein said means for engaging and transferring comprises a plurality of lateral transfer devices lying along the bottom of said trough and movable upwardly to raise said bar and allow it to roll out of said trough and into said axial movement position.
 13. The structure of claim 12 further comprising: lateral reject means actuable to move a bar from said axial movement position back into said trough; lateral return means for moving a bar from said trough into said magazine; and retaining means for movably securing a bar in said axial motion position.
 14. The structure of claim 13 wherein said retaining means is selectively movable between a bar retaining position and a position allowing the effective actuation of said lateral reject means.
 15. The structure of claim 14 wherein said retaining means is mechanically linked to and actuable with said lateral discharge means.
 16. The structure of claim 11 further comprising lateral reject means actuable to move a bar from said axial movement position back into said trough; and lateral return means for moving a bar from said trough into said magazine. 